Top congressional Republican withdraws his endorsement of Donald Trump

Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican congressman who initially pledged his support for Donald Trump, has withdrawn his endorsement amid the fallout from leaked audio that showed Donald Trump making shocking, lewd comments about women.

"I'm out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president," Chaffetz said in an interview with Fox 13 in Salt Lake City on Friday night.

Speaking to the 2005 recording in which Trump explicitly suggested that women could be grabbed and manhandled at will, Chaffez said, "It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine."

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30 former GOP congressmen come out against Trump

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30 former GOP congressmen come out against Trump

Bob Bauman (R-MD)

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Steve Bartlett (R-TX)

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Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)

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Jack Buechner (R-MO)

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Tom Campbell (R-CA)

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Bill Clinger (R-PA)

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Tom Coleman (R-MO)

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Geoff Davis (R-KY)

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Mickey Edwards (R-OK)

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Harris Fawell (R-IL)

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Ed Foreman (R-TX) (R-NM)

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Amo Houghton, Jr. (R-NY)

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Jim Leach (R-IA)

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Connie Morella (R-MD)

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John Porter (R-IL)

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Claudine Schneider (R-RI)

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John "Joe" Schwarz (R-MI)

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Chris Shays (R-CT)

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Peter Smith (R-VT)

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Edward Weber (R-OH)

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Vin Weber (R-MN)

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G. William Whitehurst (R-VA)

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Chaffetz, who represents Utah's 3rd Congressional District, is one of a group of Republicans who grilled Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic rival, over her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state. He is the chair of the House Oversight Committee.

"That was an apology for getting caught, that was not an apology for the behavior," Chaffetz sniped in a subsequent CNN interview, adding that Trump's argument that the lewd comments were equivalent to "locker room behavior" were unacceptable.

"I was a place kicker. I was in plenty of locker rooms. This is not locker-room talk," he said.